Press Release

NEW YORK -- In a pregame ceremony Friday night at Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols and pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright will receive prestigious Players Choice Awards in recognition of their outstanding performances in 2009. Pitchers Kyle McClellan -- a member of the MLBPAs Executive Board -- and Trever Miller will represent their Major League peers in presenting the awards.

In 2009, Adam, Albert and Chris helped lead the Cardinals to their fourth NL Central Division title in six seasons. In doing so, Adam captured the Players Choice Award as NL Outstanding Pitcher by leading the National League with 19 wins (19-8), 34 starts and 233 innings pitched. Albert was chosen NL Outstanding Player and Player of the Year after leading the Majors in home runs (47) and by finishing first among all National Leaguers in runs scored (124), on-base percentage (.443) and slugging percentage (.658), second in doubles (45) and third in batting average (.327), RBI (135) and walks (115). Chris was selected as NL Comeback Player for the second time (2004), by finishing with a 17-4 record and leading the NL with a 2.24 ERA, despite starting a total of just four games in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

This is the first time three players from the same team have captured Players Choice Awards in a single season. Albert has now won eight Players Choice Awards, Chris has won four, while this is Adams first.

In their honor, the Major League Baseball Players Trust will award grants totaling $110,000 to charities chosen by tonights Award recipients. Adam has selected the Catch-A-Dream Foundation (Mississippi) and Fellowship of Christian Athletes to receive $10,000 each, while Chris has selected Kristens Fund (Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon, N.H.) to receive a $20,000 grant. The Players Trust will contribute an additional $70,000 to the charity, or charities, selected by Albert. 2009 Players Choice Award winners in all categories will designate charities to receive grants totaling $260,000 from the Players Trust. Since 1992, the Players Trust has recognized the outstanding on-field and off-field performances of Players Choice Awards winners by contributing nearly $3 million to charities around the world.

Through the Players Trust, Major Leaguers contribute their time, money and celebrity to call attention to important causes affecting the needy and to help encourage others to get involved in their own communities. In partnership with Volunteers of America, the national human service organization, the Players Trust administers the Action Team, a national youth volunteer program currently inspiring the next generation of volunteers in more than 150 high schools in cities throughout the United States. For more information on the Major League Baseball Players Trust, please visit www.MLBPLAYERS.com and http://www.youtube.com/mlbplayerstrust.

The Players Choice Awards winners (Outstanding Pitchers, Rookies, Comeback Players, Player of the Year and the Marvin Miller Man of the Year) were selected by secret ballot of all Major League baseball players, under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.

The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the 30 Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust, a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players. Please visit the Players Trust Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/mlbplayerstrust.